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Monday, January 23, 2012 / 12:24 pm

Katherine On Animal Welfare

The third installment in Katherine's series of personal blogs for
iVillage was posted today and
this week she turns her attention to a subject close to her heart - animal welfare.

Several years ago Katherine and her mother Nancy founded the
Jason Debus Heigl Foundation. Chief among the organizations
many endeavors has been the diligent fight to change policies, bring awareness and stop the unnecessary euthanization of healthy
adoptable animals in the city and county of Los Angeles.

Katherine's 'I Hate Balls' Campaign Aims To Reduce The Number Of Pets Killed In Shelters

In her blog she questions whether society as a whole is also culpable to some degree for abandoned, forgotten and abused
animals - not just the abusers, the reckless or the thoughtless - as millions of healthy adoptable companion pets are killed
every year in shelters due to overcrowding.

It's easy to lose sight of humanity's
capacity for compassion, but in the world of animal rescue I am reminded over and over again of how most people are inherently
good and well-intentioned. That's what I force myself to focus on when despair and hopelessness starts to creep in. I choose
over and over again to see people's character and integrity as my dogs do. They have set the bar high when it comes to faith,
compassion, patience, loyalty and unconditional love and when I pray at night, I ask that I can follow their example more often.
These remarkable creatures have put so much trust and heart into the human race: Now all we have to do is deserve it.
Katherine Heigl, iVillage - January 2012

Comments (1)

However, might I direct your attention to the responsible breeders out there? The ones who do rescue, breed only with intent and homes in mind, the ones who take back their animals even years later? These folks, too, deserve commendation.

In areas of the county, state, and country where funds are scarce, there is a dire need for low or no-cost spay and neuter. Many people who come into vet clinics with intact animals state that the reason their animals are not fixed is that they could not afford it when they were young, and now that the animal has grown, cannot afford the cost.

Providing these people with the spay/neuter services that are most needed would be one of the most useful things anyone could do in reducing the number of offspring which enter the shelter and rescue situations.

I tried to leave a comment on your foundation website and it was not able to read the captcha file–the comment was lost. 🙁